


Caring Deeply

by MadameBaggio



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Shirbert, they deserve a kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 16:31:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21039290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameBaggio/pseuds/MadameBaggio
Summary: Anne is helping Bash and Gilbert, when a small cut on her finger makes her see something unexpected.





	Caring Deeply

**Author's Note:**

> Possible spoilers for season 3!
> 
> I promised the love of my life, light of my existence, my goddess Ayla, to make a one-shot with this idea she had, so…
> 
> I’ve done it and now I’m sharing it with you all.
> 
> Hope you like it!

After Mary’s passing Marilla and Anne tried to help Gilbert and Bash as much as possible. They had little Delphine, and -although he was better -Bash was still lost without Mary.

This was what made Anne the saddest; Mary and Bash were so good together, so full of love and they had a whole life ahead of them. It seemed unfair that Mary had to go like this.

Gilbert seemed to be better, but she could never tell with him. Everytime Anne thought she had Gilbert figured out something happened and kicked that notion aside.

She knew she could try harder to understand him, however she’d been on her guard for so long when it came to him, she didn’t even know where to begin.

And the thing was… She hadn’t liked when he talked about giving up on his dream. Seeing Gilbert -Gilbert Blythe! -without hope was sadder than Anne thought it might be.

But that was friendly interest from her. She cared for him as friend. Not the same way she might care about Diana or Cole -because they were more than friends, they were souls made to meet -but she cared about him. Like a human being. Or something.

Anyway, if she could help somehow, then she would.

That was why she was at Gilbert’s house today.

Matthew had come around to help with something related to the farm -Anne would have to confess she hadn’t paid attention to that part of the conversation. She could hear Gilbert finishing his homework in the other room -she’d finished hers already! Marilla had taken Delphine to Green Gable, because she had things to do there.

Anne was supposed to leave some things ready in the kitchen, in a way that would make their lives easier, without wasting food. Fortunately, Mary had taught her a few tricks.

She could come back in a few days and do it again, and maybe leave…

“Ouch!” Anne yelped as she cut her finger.

That was what she got for not paying attention to what she was doing.

Anne dropped her knife on the table and looked around for a clean rag.

“Anne?” Gilbert called from the other room. “Are you alright?”

“Yes.” She called back, finally finding a rag. “I just cut myself.” Her tone was derisive, but directed at herself for her lack of attention.

She really didn’t expect Gilbert to come barreling in the kitchen, an absolute wild look about his eyes. “You cut yourself?”

“Yes.” She answered carefully. “Gilbert, it’s just a small cut.”

“That was we thought about Mary!” He spoke, clearly beside himself with worry. “I was the one that cleaned her wound, and I thought it was fine.”

“Gilbert.”

“And I was wrong! And she is gone.”

“Gilbert.”

“I can’t take this, Anne.” He suddenly turned to her, his hands grabbing her shoulders, and Anne saw he was one second away from actually crying. “If something happens to you, and it’s my fault…”

“Gilbert!” She shouted, shocking him into silence. “It was just my finger.” She showed him said finger, and its minimal cut. It wasn’t even bleeding anymore.

Gilbert stared at her finger for a long time, like he couldn’t assimilate what he was seeing. Then it was like he woke up from a dream; he shook his head and looked at her, then his hands on her shoulder.

“Oh my…” He let go of her and took a step back. “Anne, I am so sorry. I…”

“Have you been carrying this guilt with you all the time?” She asked, her voice full of concern.

Gilbert cleared his throat and gave her his back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Gilbert.” She grabbed him by the shoulder and made him look at her again. “You think Mary died because you didn’t care for her properly.” It was so obvious now. Why Gilbert was quiet, why he didn’t want to be a doctor anymore.

He’d been the one to dress Mary wound and she’d died of sepsis. He felt he’d done something wrong, and he’d been carrying this.

Alone.

“I checked the wound, I cleaned it. I know I did.” He was talking, but Anne didn’t feel it was to her. “And yet…” He stopped talking and that one tear fell down.

She grabbed his hand. “You listen to me, Gilbert Blythe.” She told him firmly. “I know you did all you could, and that you would’ve done more if you could. I know you’d have done anything for her. Nobody would’ve done better for her, because you cared more deeply than anyone else would have cared.”

He was looking at her, and Anne just hoped he understood what she was saying.

“Caring deeply will always be the right thing.” He murmured to her the words she’d spoken to him before.

“Yes.” She whispered. “Exactly.”

He sighed and squeezed her hand a bit. “Thank you. How come you always know just what to say?” He discreetly wiped his tear and Anne let him get away with it.

She gave a breathless chuckle. “It is the advantage of having such an extensive vocabulary.”

Gilbert offered her a small smile. “Are you sure you are fine?”

She showed him her finger again. “Just a very small cut.”

Gilbert gently grabbed her hand to take a closer look at her finger. “You’re right, just a small cut.”

It should be a simple gesturing, just a caring sign, but… Anne’s heart was going all over the place over it. She didn’t know what was happening.

“Yes. Miniscule.”

“I’ve heard there is a great medicine for that.”

There was something a bit mischievous in his eyes, and Anne didn’t know if she liked it or not. (It was a lie, she liked it a lot.)

“Really?”

“Yes.” He was looking intently at her now. “It is something simple.”

“What is it?” Why were they whispering if they were the only ones in the house?

Slowly -so slowly that Anne thought it might have taken hours -Gilbert lowered his head, his eyes still fixed on hers, like he was waiting for her reaction -for a protest, perhaps? - until she could feel his breath on her finger, he closed his eyes and then…

Then she felt his lips dropping a single kiss to her finger, a soft kiss so gentle she barely felt it. Her heart felt it, though. The thing was beating so insanely, she wondered if Marilla could hear it back home.

Time seemed to stop as he raised his head to look at her again, something tentative and questioning in his eyes. “Anne…”

Two things became quite clear to Anne in that moment: Gilbert had panicked because it was her. Not just because of what had happened to Mary, but because  _ she _ was the one hurt now. And the second one was... 

Well…

She really wanted to feel his lips again.

What should she do?

Fortunately, she didn’t have to figure that out, because Gilbert cupped her face with his right hand and leaned back in her direction, this time clearly aiming for her lips.

In the seconds before he reached them, Anne felt like a thousand thoughts crossed her mind, the most pressing one was to keep breathing normally.

And he kissed her!

There were no words she could use to describe that feeling. His lips were chapped, but they were still painfully soft and gentle. His thumb was caressing her face and his other hand was still holding hers, and Anne felt like was floating and falling at the same time, over and over again.

Her free hand moved on its own violation, until it rested on his chest and she moved a bit closer, inebriated on him and this feeling. His other hand went to her waist, pulling her even closer as one kiss turned into another and another and another…

The world was spiralling in color and sensation and Anne felt like she would never see things the same way again.

Her hands closed on his shirt, looking for something solid to hold her to the ground, or she would fly out of that window. She just felt she wanted more and more.

There was something so sweet about this, so right, so…

It was Bash’s voice that brought her back to Earth.

She could hear him talking to Matthew, which meant they were coming to the house!

Gilbert clearly didn’t hear it, but he did notice she’d stiffened. Then he must have heard the voices too, because he took a hurried step away.

“There you are.” Matthew smiled entering the kitchen. “We came for some tea.”

“Sure!” Anne said brightly -too brightly, oh no! -and hurried to prepare said tea.

Bash was looking from one to the other -would he know? HOW? -but didn’t say anything, but Anne was almost sure he was giving Gilbert knowing looks.

Anne busied herself with tea as the conversation settled around her, but once the men were sitting and she started serving them, her eyes found Gilbert, and he was already looking at her, with a soft smile on his face.

She smiled back and felt that this special secret was something that belonged to them and nobody else.

For the first time in days, Anne was perfectly happy.


End file.
